So late...

I'm not sure when it all changed, but somehow, I now stay up till all hours of the night. What's annoying is that I still get up ridiculously early. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I have no curtains. 

Today was a random day, I went for a quick run then banned myself from the internet until I got a few things done around the house.  I was missing Dubai, so I threw on a pair of shorts and a tank top, my usual Friday cleaning outfit. So... I quickly cleaned, did laundry, had a latte, you know, the usual. I had to run down to the store, it's right below me, and get a few things, I must have looked like the neighborhood crazy lady, everyone else was bundled up in scarves, hats and gloves and I was half dressed. 

Peter came over and dropped off a mattress, couch and took Steph and I to IKEA. SO nice! I have no idea why he decided to come help me with all this, but I really needed it! I just was not able to pull it together enough to get anything done, and he didn't really leave it as a choice. He just told me what was happening and where I needed to be and at what time, apparently that's what I needed. 

Tomorrow I plan on spending the day putting together my new IKEA furniture and... going out with a random Austrian guy; I am realizing how fast I talk and how much I use sarcasm... which is often lost on people with English as a second language. Ha! I hope I don't freak out and run away from him at some point. He's a consultant and travels a ton for work... sound familiar? What is the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result...?

Just one more drink...

Ha! Just got back from a great weekend in Graz. We went down on Saturday morning, the train ride was great! We met at the train station around 9am on Saturday morning and made our way to Graz. After a little confusion we ended up on this old, dirty train to Graz. But, with the three bottles of champagne and great snacks we managed to make it just fine.... We arrived into Graz, made it to our hotel, out to pick up our race numbers and then back into the main part of town. We met Steph and Anika, did some shopping and then went to a long Greek dinner. We sat for hours, eating and drinking too much. Of course, I loved it and had a great time. 
We all had great races, some of us did a half marathon and the others did a 10.5 k. We all felt great. We hopped on a bus to the train station and it was a disaster. There were a zillion people and even nuns were pushing and shoving. I was a sweaty disaster. I can't figure out how I can be so disgusting and others look so normal. Whatever. We drank a ton of wine and champagne on he train ride home, it was so fun! We didn't want the night to end, so we all went to pizza, pasta and wine... just another great weekend!
Of course, I'm still a mess about Andrew, it's so annoying, I just wish I could make it all go away!

Denial and avoidance are totally ok....

I decided I should probably erase my "I'm actually crazy" blogs.... so, when I finish this I will do just that.... Surprisingly we had another great night here in Vienna. Actually, first I should start with the cross country run, it snowed and we lost kids... should I say more? i loved it. 

Next... we went to a "lifestyle party" Do I go to the lifestyle club? No. Do I pay for it? Yes... So, a party???? We definitely decided we were in!!! Of course we ended up taking free shots at our favorite Mexican place... again... Ah, such is life! 

Tomorrow, a friend of mine is delivering free mattresses for me and taking me to IKEA, how did I get so lucky?

Snow Day!!!

I wish... it is totally snowing and SO cold! I can't believe the change in the weather! Last week it was in the 70's, beautiful blue skies and just,well, perfect fall weather. This week it has just been freezing and today the snow started! It was snowing this morning when I woke up and it hasn't stopped. I'm not sure if all of Vienna is getting snow, or just where my school is located, we're a little bit higher up. CRAZY! October? Snow? This is so not Dubai...

No more Tin Tan!

I am officially NOT allowed back to Tin Tan, or whatever it's called, on the weeknights. Last night I met some friends at this pizza place (the best we've found so far in Vienna!) near my house, they had dinner, I drank wine. I am on a very strict budget... Then we decided to go to the Mexican place for a drink, which turned into way more than one, included free shots of tequila with the bartender, Luis, our best friend, and something that lit on fire and lots of delicious wine... Ugh.

I was running around the ring this morning at 5:00 wishing I made more responsible choices on school nights... shots? Really? Oh, and I tried to make a mixed vegetable soup, it was terrible. Vegetables need to live separately in my soup.

Really???

So, after the world's SLOWEST mover, coincidentally paid by the hour, finally gets my washer and dryer all hooked up, I was SO excited to get started that I just poured in the soap and pushed few random buttons in German and it just started right up! I forgot to put clothes in... and it automatically locks and there is no way to open the door. Annoying! Oh well, I am making some dinner, drinking some wine and sitting at the computer while I wait. I'd be doing the same thing with or without clothes in there I guess...

I was laughing earlier today, I was sitting at work talking with this guy I work with and he just says, so, people are talking, they are saying you have no furniture, do you want a bed? I just started laughing. Who is talking about my lack of furniture? I certainly haven't had anyone over to see my empty apartment! It just cracks me up, I cannot believe I have been living like this for over a month! And, to be honest, I don't even care. Sure furniture would be nice, but if I could chose one thing to be working out a little differently right now in my life, furniture would have nothing to do with it.

I can't believe I will be in SF and Seattle in about a week, crazy! I'm excited to get out of here for a while. It is absolutely FREEZING cold. They're predicting snow on Thursday and Friday. I'm running with the cross country team Friday afternoon, so that will be fun! I also think I'm going to join the random Prater guys soccer team. Should be interesting!

U2

One more thing... today I bought U2 tickets. Seems like a pretty normal fun thing to do. Did I mention the concert is August 30, 2010? 

Perfect Fall Day...

Last night we found a little piece of Dubai in Vienna. And, by Dubai, I mean overpriced martinis, some swanky dressed people (and me in my long sleeve t-shirt, jeans, boots and an orange scarf), delicious food and lots of people to look at. There wasn't a spritzer in sight...

This morning Steph and I met on the tram and went out to the Prater for a 16km run. I felt pretty good, but right towards the end, maybe the last 2kms or so, I got totally light headed and my eyes were doing that thing where you can see fine, then tunnel vision, then all black then fine again. Annoying. It also hurt to breathe a little, reminded me a bit of Dubai when I had bronchitis year round. I have run a ton since I've been here, but I haven't really been keeping up with long runs. The last couple weekends I've gotten in an hour and a half or maybe two hours; it's weird to think that while I was living in Dubai, I ran 27 - 36+ kms every friday. I don't know if I need to run that much here, but I would like to start running a bit longer on the weekends. Anyways, the Prater was gorgeous.! There is this long street lined with trees and all the leaves were changing, it was just beautiful. We grabbed a McDonald's ice cream cone for the tram ride home, the perfect recovery food and so good! We decided that we should continue to take advantage of the perfect fall day and head out to Grinzing. 

This first picture cracks me up, it's right next to the tram stop. I see it every day on my way to work. It's an advertisement for a vacation in the US. Right, cowboys... 

Right when we walked off the tram I could tell I was going to LOVE Grinzing. There is one main street that was lined with outdoor places to sit and enjoy wine, coffee, food, whatever...

This stand totally reminded me of Oktoberfest and they sold the sugared nuts that I LOVE so much! Steph gave me some from her recent trip to Oktoberfest, but of course I ate them all that second. I am so happy I have more!

There were wines growing everywhere! We were on a mission to find Pumpkin Soup and were stopping at every restaurant and asking if they had it, this one didn't so we just kept on walking.

This place has Pumpkin Soup!

Here we are with our perfect fall meal... Sturm for Steph and a spritzer for me, Pumpkin Soup and we shared the house plate of meats and cheeses... so good!

This is the place that we stopped to have apple strudel and one more drink... two,  met my limit. Although, living in Vienna two doesn't seem as much like a limit as a daily requirement for life here!

It was such a great day! I did spend the whole run thinking about Andrew and trying to figure it out, or not really figure anything out, it was just all I could think about. Which just drives me crazy, I wish I could just turn my brain off sometimes! The rest of the day was just perfect. I still have a hard time believing that this is where I LIVE, not vacation, but this is regular life. Grinzing is about 15 minutes from my house, that is crazy. It is like a cute little vacation town and it's right here in Vienna. 

I really think fall is my favorite time of year. The weather has been amazing and the leaves are changing, and to be honest, I think one of the best parts is pulling out all my fall clothes that I haven't worn for years and wearing jeans and boots again...

Missing Dubai...

I went out and played a little pick up soccer at the Prater last night, I was the only girl and the only English speaker, but my German has improved dramatically over the last few weeks and I'm pretty sure what they were saying the whole time was how awesome I was. Ha! I got home and immediately e-mailed my coaches in Dubai asking them to come to Vienna and start a team... Playing was really fun, but it made me miss The Dubai Heat Ladies... It was so great to have a team and a coach and be a bit competitive in something. I'm sorta feeling like I'm losing in life right now, so it'd be great to have a team where we could be winning. The girls in Dubai are also doing, or did, a soccer boot camp... I'm jealous, in that, I kind of hate you way.

When I was working at DAA it sometimes felt a bit claustrophobic to work, live and socialize with all the same people, but the last couple weeks I would have given anything to be back in my dorm life housing across the street from work surrounded by people. I love Vienna and my apartment, but it definitely feels lonely. I invited myself over to Steph's for dinner last night I just couldn't stand the thought of going home to an empty, unfurnished apartment. Life without credit cards is no fun. I also waited too long trying to figure out what I was going to do for Christmas and now the tickets are so expensive I can't afford to fly home. It'll be interesting to be here... it's supposed to be an amazing place with all the Christmas markets and all that.

I'm missing parts of Dubai life, but can't imagine a better place to spend Fall, it's my favorite time of year. I'm coaching a soccer tournament and right now we're between games, the weather is amazing, clear blue skies and school is basically a super cute small town surrounded by woods and vineyards. It really couldn't be prettier. I am currently obsessing about pumpkin soup. It is so delicious! I just asked Steph if she wanted to go out walking in the vineyards tomorrow and then stop and eat pumpkin soup and drink wine.

I guess I'll be back in Dubai soon enough... less than 8 weeks and I'll be laying in the sun after eating a huge slice of carrot cake, but who's counting...!